Animal trap

ABSTRACT

A cage has upstanding walls provided with a pair of opposed holes. A balanced tubular member is pivotally mounted within the cage and is normally directed in line with the pair of opposed holes. The tubular member has an opening at the lower side thereof closed by a balanced cover member pivotally mounted on supports within the cage. A transverse wall within the cage is parallel to the tubular member and has an opening, towards which, the opening on the tubular member leads upon tilting of the tubular member and a downwardly slanting flexible barrier, the upper end of which, is secured to the transverse wall immediately above the opening therein, the lower side of said flexible barrier having pins to prevent rodents from going back through the opening on the transverse wall.

i nited States Patent Primary Examiner-.Wamer H. Camp ABSTRACT: A cagehas upstanding walls provided with a pair of opposed holes. A balancedtubular member is pivotally mounted within the cage and is normallydirected in line with the pair of opposed holes. The tubular member hasan opening at the lower side thereof closed by a balanced cover memberpivotally mounted on supports within the cage. A transverse wall withinthe cage is parallel to the tubular member and has an opening towardswhich, the opening on the tubular member leads upon tilting of thetubular member and a downwardly slanting flexible barrier, the upper endof which, is secured to the transverse wall immediately above theopening therein, the lower side of said flexible barrier having pins toprevent rodents from going back through the opening on the transversewall.

PATENTEDAUGZMHII 3,600,841

INVIiN'I'UR.

GONZALO O. CATAN, .JFI

ANIMAL TRAP The present invention relates to traps in general and moreparticularly to an animal trap.

While this invention could be used to trap various kinds of animals, itis however, designed specifically to catch rodents which have beenobserved to have certain peculiar habits. One of the peculiar habits ofrodents is their tendency to enter holes and other constricted passages.Rodents, however, have also been observed to be very observant and areeasily frightened by noise or movements of objects.

With the above, observations, it is therefore the object of thisinvention to provide a trap which will take advantage of the habit ofrodents to enter holes or constricted passages.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a trap which will notcreate noise or movement which would scare a rodent away until therodent has entered a portion of a constricted passage where it could nolonger back out.

Another object of this invention is to provide a trap having a tiltablebalanced conduit or tubular member which when tilted to expose anopening thereon automatically effects the closure of the entry holes oropening leading into the cage where further devices are provided toprevent the escape of the trapped rodents.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a trap which iscapable of catching a number of rodents without any personal attendance.

It is further object of this invention to provide a trap which issimple, inexpensive and easy to manufacture.

Other objects will become apparent from the following description of theaccompanying drawings forming part of this specification wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the animal trap embodying the present inventionwith portions of the slidable cover thereof cutaway to show the partswithin the cage.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line Il-II of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a left end view of the animal trap with the outline of thetubular member shown in dotted lines.

Referring now to the drawings, the animal or rodent trap in accordancewith the present invention, includes a boxlike rectangular cage 1 havinga bottom wall 2, upstanding end walls 3 and upstanding sidewalls 4. Theupper edges 5 of the sidewalls 4 are flanged horizontally outwardly toreceive the inwardly bent edges 6 of the slidable cover C which is shownclearly in FIG. 3.

While, as shown in the drawings the cage is made of sheet metal, anysuitable material, such as plastic or wood may be used.

On the sidewalls 4 and close to the bottom are the opposed openings 7.Positioned within the cage and in line with the opposed openings is thetubular member 8 which is open at both ends. The tubular member ispivotally connected by the hinges 9 to the rod 10 and the ends 11 ofwhich are soldered at 12 to the sidewalls 4.

Soldered to the tubular member at 13 is an arcuate rod 14 at the freeend of which is counterweight [5. The counterweight is adapted tobalance the tubular member 8 and maintain the same normally in line withthe opposed openings 7 on the sidewalls 4.

On the lower side of the tubular member 8 is an opening l6 which isnormally closed by a balanced arcuate cover member the rodent (withinthe tubular member) the tubular member tilts or rotates on its pivot ina downwardly direction until the fully uncovered opening 16 thereon isaligned with the opening 22 at the bottom of the transverse wall 23. Thevertical sides of the transverse wall 23 are soldered to the sidewallsof the cage. Secured to the transverse wall 23 close to the verticalsides of the opening 22 are the upstanding guide plates 24. Secured alsoto the transverse wall 23 directly above the opening 22 is the channelclip 25 which holds the upper end of the flexible barrier 26 which asshown clearly in FIG. 2, is downwardly slanting. At the free or lowerend of the flexible barrier 26 are secured the pointed rods 27 whichcould be ordinary pins. The pointed rods or pins 27 are adapted to prickrodents attempting to back through the opening 22.

So that the arcuate rod 14 would be free to move up and down, a verticalelongated slot 28 is provided on the transverse wall 23. On the outersides of the sidewalls 4 are pivotally mounted at 29 the baffles 30which have semicircular cuts 31. The baffles 30 are made of sheet metaland are formed substantially as shown in FIG. 3. Baffles 30 are adaptedto guide the rodents through the openings 7 into the tubular member. Ithas been observed that rodents attracted by baits placed within the cagemove along the sides of cage. With the bafiles 30 on the way as therodents hug the sides of the cage, the rodents are forced to enter theopenings 7.

Various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art on theexemplary embodiment described without departing from the essence of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

I. An animal trap including a cage, opposed upstanding walls of which,has a pair of opposed in-line openings; a tiltable tubular memberpivotally positioned within said cage and normally in line with saidopposed openings, said tubular member having an opening at the lowerside thereof and end plates to substantially cover said opposed openingsin said cage walls upon tilting of said tubular member; a tiltable covermember pivotally positioned within said cage normally covering the loweropening in said tubular member; a transverse wall positioned within saidcage close to said tubular member, said transverse wall having anopening substantially coinciding with the lower opening in said tubularmember upon tilting of said tubular member; a pair of guide platesextending from the vertical sides of the opening on said transverse wallaway from the tubular member; and a downwardly inclined flexible bafflethe upper end of which is secured to said transverse wall directly abovesaid opening on said transverse wall, said flexible baffle havingpointed rods secured at the free end thereof.

2. An animal trap as claimed in claim. 1 having baffles pivotallymounted on the outer side of each of the opposed upstanding sidewalls ofsaid cage, said baffles being positioned diametrically across theopenings on said sidewalls.

1. An animal trap including a cage, opposed upstanding walls of which, has a pair of opposed in-line openings; a tiltable tubular member pivotally positioned within said cage and normally in line with said opposed openings, said tubular member having an opening at the lower side thereof and end plates to substantially cover said opposed openings in said cage walls upon tilting of said tubular member; a tiltable cover member pivotally positioned within said cage normally covering the lower opening in said tubular member; a transverse wall positioned within said cage close to said tubular member, said transverse wall having an opening substantially coinciding with the lower opening in said tubular member upon tilting of said tubular member; a pair of guide plates extending from the vertical sides of the opening on said transverse wall away from the tubular member; and a downwardly inclined flexible baffle the upper end of which is secured to said transverse wall directly above said opening on said transverse wall, said flexible baffle having pointed rods secured at the free end thereof.
 2. An animal trap as claimed in claim 1 having baffles pivotally mounted on the outer side of each of the opposed upstanding sidewalls of said cage, said baffles being positioned diametrically across the openings on said sidewalls. 